Sweet Sacrifice
by Difficult-notImpossible
Summary: You know how everything suddenly seems to move in slow motion? Like in movies when the tragic death of the protagonist occurs they film it in ultra-slow motion with inspirational music? No, nothing happened like that... it happened pretty fast actually.


_**Sweet Sacrifice**_

Love can make you do a lot of things.

People that say that they don't have weaknesses are liars. Everyone has a weakness, and whatever they love is usually it. In order not to lose the one she loved, she swore she would do anything, whether it was her family, or her friends, or _him._ But she didn't know something like this would ever happen.

And now she found that she couldn't do it.

Her eyes were wide and shocked, tears slipping out of them and trailing their way down her face, falling to the ground with what seemed to be the loudest sound in the room. She struggled to control the sobs that would escape her, shaking with her fear as she stared at the horrific scene before her.

She felt the cold metal rim of the gun against the moist skin of her temple, and a small gasp escaped her lips.

"Don't hurt her!" his yell echoed throughout the small room, and she squeezed her eyes shut as he took another blow to the stomach, causing him to groan and fly back against the wall. His brown eyes were wild with rage, but every time he held up a fist, the gun was pressed harder against her temple and he would freeze.

"Look at him… so vulnerable…" a voice cooed in her ear, teasing her as she watched him get hit again and again until he fell to the floor, unable to handle the pain. "So desperate to protect the one he loves… but so unable to."

"Please," she whispered, sobbing to herself quietly. "Just _stop_."

The voice laughed. "All we had to do was take what was so _precious_ to you… and you do anything we want!"

She watched in agony as rope was tied tightly around his wrists, slicing through his skin. He looked up at her, his eyes crazy with fury and miserable with pain. He shook his head weakly, breathing hard.

She heard the sound of another gun being cocked and she realized that it was pointed to his head.

She struggled to stand up, but the rope holding her arms and legs to the chair she was seated in didn't let her. "_Stop!_" she shrieked, the tears falling faster now as her heart pounded in her ears. The chair under her shook violently as she struggled to free herself somehow, her whimpers expressing the desperate state she was in. All she wanted to do was get them to stop hurting him. "_Please_!"

She noticed tears falling from his eyes, and she only cried harder, combining his pain with her own.

The voice smirked at her, and she became more hysterical as the gun neared his unprotected head, the hockey helmet he loved thrown off to the side. "I'll do anything!"

The gunman smiled sickly through his ski mask, and the gun was pulled back a bit, which caused her to sigh in relief and close her eyes.

A dark figure stepped in front of her, and the gun was removed from her head and tucked into the dark figure's pants. She could tell at once that it was a girl, and she realized that she recognized the voice. The figure snickered and removed her own ski mask, and she gasped loudly when she realized who it was. "_Rachel_?"

The curly haired girl smirked before leaning down and tugging at her hair. "I'm surprised someone as smart as Miss Marissa Diamond didn't find out who I was sooner…" turning, she feigned sympathy as she cocked her head to the side, observing the hurt Latino on the ground. "Poor Carlos… that looks like it hurts."

Marissa glared. "Why are you doing this? What did we ever do to _you_?"

Rachel whirled around at once, making the blue eyed girl flinch. "_You_ didn't do anything to me…" she sighed. "You two are simply part of our plan."

"Plan for what?"

Carlos' cry of pain seemed to stab Marissa in the chest as the gunman pulled him up by his hair and threw him on another chair, tying his legs to it. Carlos longed to teach him a lesson, and he grunted in frustration at the realization that he couldn't.

"Who's the bad boy now, huh _Carlitos_?" his eyes went wide when he recognized the voice, and the ski mask was pulled off of his attacker's face to reveal the wannabe bad boy.

"Wayne- Wayne!" Carlos growled, his anger growing.

A laugh filled the room before Wayne -Wayne's fist connected with Carlos' jaw once again, causing his head to turn sharply to the side.

Marissa whimpered.

Rachel chuckled, giving the boys her back and facing the distressed girl tied to her seat, playing with the small revolver in her hand. "You know… you kinda look like him… James, I mean."

Marissa didn't understand why Rachel had them here, why she was hurting Carlos, why "Wayne Wayne" seemed to hate Carlos so much, why the girl that had seemed so sweet and innocent was now here, holding a gun to her head, torturing Marissa and Carlos. But more importantly…

She didn't understand why Rachel was now pulling James into this.

James… her favorite cousin, who now lay unconscious in a hospital room, a deep wound on his side from where the knife had stabbed him, leaving him in such a weak state that Marissa feared he wouldn't make it. He had been stabbed twice and abandoned in the alley behind the _Palm Woods_, left alone to die. Marissa had been the one to find him, frantically searching the large hotel for her relative after he didn't come back at his promised time.

"What are you talking about?" she whispered.

"But I always guessed the Diamond family was beautiful…"

More tears escaped her eyes as she floated around in her confusion.

"Maris —" Carlos choked out before Wayne Wayne stuffed a bandana into his mouth. Muffled yells filled the room as the Latino thrashed around, his eyes widening in pain as the rope dug deeper into the skin of his wrists. Wayne Wayne raised his fist again, and Marissa thrashed so much in her chair she tipped over, her head making a painful collision with the floor.

"DON"T!" she shouted, ignoring the sharp pain in her head.

Rachel's laugh echoed through the room as she roughly raised Marissa, settling the chair back into place, facing Carlos. The Latino wasn't moving by that point, only staring at the girl he loved, his eyes expressing his misery. He was dying to comfort her, tell her everything was going to be okay, but he wasn't exactly sure everything _was_ going to be okay…

And the stupid bandana in his mouth wasn't helping matters.

"You two are so cute!" Rachel guffawed, pinching Marissa's cheek so hard, it left a red spot when she removed her hand. Marissa only glared. "So willing to give up everything for the other!" she kneeled down beside Marissa before bringing her hand up and roughly slapping her across the face.

Muffled yells filled the room once again as Carlos jumped up, his fists clenching as he struggled to free himself.

The worse thing about a slap to the face isn't always the stinging pain it gives, but instead the sensation of humiliation and shame that comes after, even if you hadn't done anything. Marissa had never been slapped, especially not in the face this way, and it wasn't the best feeling in the world.

She struggled to hold back her tears and gulped, her piercing blue eyes glaring sharply at the curly haired girl before her. "Why are you doing this?" she asked of her, wanting to know why she had brought them here, and why she was so desperate to hurt them.

"Wally, come here." Rachel beckoned "Wayne-Wayne" over, and he sighed heavily.

"Rachel! I said to call me Wayne-Wayne!" he groaned.

"Does it really matter? Just get over here!" Carlos became more panicked and frantic as Wally made his way over to the girls, a sick smirk on his face. Marissa shook with her fear as he came closer, his dark eyes wild.

A deep chuckle escaped Wally, and he kneeled down to level with Marissa, his hands holding on to the back of her chair on either side of her.

It was quiet all of a sudden, the only noises in the room being Marissa's shaky breaths as she tried to calm her cries and the occasional rattle of Carlos' chair as he thrashed every once in a while, growing impatient.

Wayne-Wayne, or Wally, or whatever his name was, only stared at Marissa, studying her from head to toe, his smirk growing wider and creepier as he went along.

After a while, he stood up and turned to the Latino. "Can I ask a question?"

"I highly doubt we're allowed to say otherwise," it escaped her mouth before she could stop it, and the voice in Marissa's head reminded her after a second that this wasn't Kendall she was playing sarcasm with, but instead what looked to be a really pissed off dude with a psycho girlfriend who both legally or totally illegally had fully loaded guns in their hands. Another slap was delivered to her face, and she swallowed back another scream.

Wally laughed dryly. "You're cute… which brings me back to my question…" he pointed (almost accusingly) to Carlos and raised his eyebrows. "How did _you_ land" jutting him thumb over his shoulder, he gestured to Marissa. "_That_."

Carlos gave him the exact reaction he wanted and began yelling what sounded like profanities, which were muffled by the cloth in his mouth.

Rachel snickered and turned towards Marissa. "I was thinking the other way around…"

Marissa clenched her jaw to hold back the rude comeback that threatened to leave her mouth, and she mumbled her own curse words to herself as she took a deep breath to calm down.

"Ah, ah, ah…" Rachel giggled. "Now, what would your cousin say if he heard you talking like that?"

"He'd agree with me," Marissa growled.

The fury in Rachel's eyes sent a bolt of fear throughout Marissa. "James always _was_ a dick," she muttered. Shrugging, she added. "I guess he just deserves the knife to his side that much more."

Marissa was quiet for a moment, trying to process what was just said between the two girls. That creepy smile was still plastered on Wally's face as they all waited for the blue eyed girl's reaction. Carlos' eyes were wide, so frozen in shock that he didn't find the strength to move.

A loud gasp escaped Marissa's lips, and her chair almost tipped over again. "_You_ tried to kill James?"

"Of _course_ it was us!" Wally guffawed, his hand coming up to smack Marissa in the head, and Carlos growled at the physical contact. "Who else would it be?"

Marissa shook her head, the tears coming back. "_Why_?" was the only thing she could choke out.

"Isn't it obvious?" Wally rolled his eyes, kicking Carlos' chair. "After Kendall and my ridiculous little 'bad boy off'… I was set out on destroying _Big Time Rush_. In. Any. Way. Possible." Carlos glared harshly and groaned when another kick was delivered… only this time Wally's boot connected with his shin. "Rachel was out to get them too… well one of them."

"James." Marissa gasped.

Wally snickered. "Yep. And… well, we kinda teamed up." He shot a possessive look at Rachel, but she didn't notice. She was too busy glaring hatefully at Marissa.

She shook her head hard, struggling to contain her cries for help and sobs of fear. She knew that even if she cried out for some sort of help, no one would hear her. Rachel was smart, and she probably took them to some soundproof room, and keeping a steady conversation with their attackers gave them a better chance of them escaping alive. Looking up at Rachel, she clenched her jaw to keep a sob from escaping. "Why?" she hiccupped. "Why would you want to hurt James?"

One word left Rachel's mouth, and the one word made both Carlos and Marissa's fear overpower their beings.

"_Kaya_."

* * *

The quiet was getting on her nerves.

The only noises in the room were that off the heart monitor beeping and the slow, easy breathing coming from him. They all stood in the small hospital room, waiting for some sort of communication with him. His eyes were tired, his face bruised. His usual perfect hair was matted to his forehead, flat against the lumpy pillow. She longed for him to say something, but he never did.

No one knew James could go this long without talking.

She was relieved when someone broke the silence.

"Carlos won't answer his phone," Kendall announced, redialing for about the hundredth time.

"Neither will Marissa." Logan added, a concerned look on his face.

"Well, where could they be?" Kaya asked them, her eyes never leaving James.

"You never know," James finally spoke up, his voice scratchy and tired, but hey, he was talking. "They could have gotten distracted…" before he could finish his joke, he broke out into a violent fit of coughs, and she scrambled around for a glass of water. When she finally got a hold of one, she held it to his lips as he drank, his coughing fading out. "I'm okay! I'm fine!" he held up at hand when Logan motioned to press the call button. Grunting, he sat up slowly, trying to ignore the intense pain in his side.

She tried to help him, and rolled her eyes when he assured her he was fine.

She sighed. "I'm sure Marissa's on her way. I just want to know what happened." She offered him a small smile. "Do you remember anything?"

It was quiet again while James considered the thought, struggling to think back. All he saw were distant, fuzzy images, and he strained to clear them out. "There… there was someone there," he whispered, and the three teens in the room gave him the undivided attention that he suddenly didn't want anymore. "She… she called my name… and I turned around. Then she whispered something in my ear… and…" he trailed off and gulped, not wanting to go on.

She stared at him with concerned green eyes, gently taking his hand in hers.

"What else?" Kendall pressed, leaning in.

"Could you see her face?" Logan asked.

James shook his head. "Her face was covered by a black hood. She… she stood over me and watched me as I started bleeding. She stood there and _laughed_! She _laughed_ at me!" Kaya stared with wide, furious eyes as James kept on. "I begged her for help, but she only laughed more…" he shook the unclear images in his mind and concentrated on the clear ones. "There was… a guy with her… he was so _familiar_…" he could now picture himself there, in the memory. Suddenly the hospital room around him disappeared and no one was there with him anymore. He could almost feel the rain cold against his skin, almost feel the cold alley floor under him. He was reliving the memory, and though he didn't want to, Kaya deserved to know. So he pushed himself farther into the memory, his eyes far away as it all came to him.

"_He said something, but I couldn't understand him_…" A shadow approached him, chuckling as he came up behind the hooded girl, enjoying his misery. He remembered wondering why they were doing this, what he had ever done to deserve it. The shadow laughed maniacally before reaching down and roughly ripping the knife out of James' side. "_He took the knife out…_" and studied it, a smirk playing on his lips. "_I thought he was helping me… but…_" a sharp gasp escaped James' lips and his eyes widened in pain as he felt the same knife go into the same wound, only this time much deeper. "_She said something else, screamed it in my ear." _He could finally hear something, the girl's voice. So familiar as she screamed at him.

"How does it feel James?" she shrieked at him, throwing herself beside him and forcing him to look at her.

"_And I still couldn't see her face…"_ The white spots in front of his eyes were ruining the images, slowly growing darker until he was surrounded by blackness. He begged her to stop as he slipped away into unconsciousness, his groans of agony growing weaker every time the shadow's knuckles collided with his face, but she wouldn't listen. She only kept yelling about how much he deserved this, though he didn't understand. She called his name again, over and over as his life slipped from him. Blinking once, he opened his eyes one last time, wanting a glimpse of this horrible death that he was going to experience.

He inhaled sharply as he snapped back into the present, his eyes settling on the pretty girl leaning over him with a concerned expression. "Kaya…" he whispered, his hand tightening around hers.

She leaned her forehead against his and pressed a kiss to his dry lips. "It's okay James," she promised. "You're okay now."

He swallowed and nodded, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to erase the last image he had of the girl who hurt him, unable to believe it was true. It couldn't be true. In his last moment of consciousness he was able to catch a glimpse of her as she removed her hood, revealing two big blue eyes.

Eyes that were much too familiar.

James wanted to refuse to believe that Marissa was the one who stabbed him.

* * *

"No… no!" she wailed, dizzy from how hard she was shaking her head. The collar of her shirt was drenched in her tears by this point, and her eyes were puffy and red, but yet the tears kept on, parading themselves down her face, streaming down her neck and joining the rest of her tears on the collar of her shirt. "No! STOP!"

Carlos watched in misery, wanting to do anything just to take her away. To steal her pain away. But he was helpless, tied up the way he was. He was sure that the skin of his wrists had been rubbed down to the stinging pain of raw flesh. His face was bruised, his right eye unable to open completely. He was in pain, practically unbearable pain to be honest. But he forgot all of it as he watched Marissa thrash and scream and cry, shaking her head hard at Rachel and Wally's compromise.

He screamed in frustration when the sound of another hand colliding with the sensitive skin of Marissa's face echoed in his head… not that anyone could hear him that way. Any time he would even try to speak, he would choke on that godforsaken bandana.

Marissa's cries died down until she was only whimpering quietly to herself, still shaking her head slightly.

Rachel glared hard at the girl before her before reaching into the black bag on the ground and retrieving a small Applegate dagger, smirking as she held it in front of her, staring at it almost lovingly.

Marissa stared at the knife with scared blue eyes, and she looked up at Rachel pleadingly. "Please don't do this."

Rachel threw her head back and laughed, dropping the dagger onto Marissa's lap. "You _are_ related to James!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up dramatically before bending down and teasingly poking her in the nose. "Just as conceited as he is."

Her eyebrows inched together in confusion and Rachel sighed. "_That_ isn't for you, silly! You're going to _use it_!"

Carlos froze.

More tears came as Marissa started to shake her head again. "No! I'm not using that!"

Rachel snorted. "Yes you are!" taking the dagger, she kneeled in front of the girl and held it out to her face. "See, this is the deal." She started, and Marissa caught the old Rachel she thought she knew coming back. Her eyes almost seemed sympathetic and nice… but she wasn't about to fall for that again.

Carlos started jerking around again, struggling to get rid of the cloth in his mouth to tell Marissa not to make deals with murderers.

"We're going to take you to James," Rachel smiled sweetly, but Marissa's expression stayed the same. Not a trace of relief passed those aqua eyes. "And we're gonna let both you and Carlos go." As much as she wanted to believe it, Marissa knew there was a catch. There was always a catch.

The sick smirk returned to Rachel's face and Marissa's stomach dropped.

"You will say _nothing_ to _anyone_ while you are there. And you will hide this dagger behind your back. You're gonna approach your cousin and ask him how he's feeling. Then you are going to take your dagger… and pierce it through his heart."

Carlos roared under the bandana and his thrashing became more violent. He didn't understand what the meaning of this was. What was the point of having Marissa kill her own cousin if Rachel could just do it herself?

Tears seem to pour from Marissa's eyes and she gasped for air as the sobs became more pronounced and less able to control. "No, no…." that seemed to be the only thing to escape her lips as she squeezed her eyes shut and refused, her chest heaving as she breathed hard. Hyperventilating. "No."

"Why not!" Rachel screamed at her, making the anguished girl in the chair shrink back.

"What's the point of making me do it?" Marissa asked her, her tone beseeching. "What's the point, if you can just do it yourself?"

"Because he trusts _you_ the most!" Wally answered for Rachel, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

An evil, slanted smile overwhelmed Rachel's lips as she continued. "And I can only _begin_ to imagine how much Kaya would suffer if she lost the one she loved so dearly at the hands of her _best friend_."

Marissa began to tremble again.

"To lose what you wanted so badly at the hands of someone you trusted to much!" dark, wild eyes met petrified, miserable ones and she lowered her voice. "I want her to feel what _I_ felt when she stole James from me… well, only to a more… what's the word?"

"Insane?" Marissa suggested.

"I like extreme better… a more extreme level of suffering."

"What do I have to do with any of this?" Marissa cried, still in the dark.

"You're a tool. Being related to James, no one will suspect anything… I mean, if it was up to me I would have strutted in there a while ago and killed both of them… but it doesn't work that way. We need _you_ to kill James in order to stab Kaya where it hurts."

"And Carlos was the bait." Wally added, chuckling.

She only stared at them, wondering how two people could go so crazy. She had heard L.A. was crazy, but these people had gone _bonkers_.

Apparently, image and heartbreak was a million times more serious when it came to Los Angeles.

"Oh and, one more thing before you decide," the curly haired girl's smirk grew. "If you don't kill your cousin…"

Marissa looked up at the sound of a gun cocking, and she whimpered when she saw Wally holding it up to Carlos' head once again.

"Carlos _dies_."

The Latino stayed put, not bothering to break out of Wally's grip, he knew that if he moved too much, one bullet to the temple would end his life right there. His expression was emotionless, but his eyes were determined. His breathing was hard and his body shook with his anger and fear as he stared at her, the most serious she had ever seen him.

Marissa threw her head down and cried softly to herself. She somehow wished that this wasn't happening. That her favorite cousin was not in the hospital with a deep wound in his side. That she hadn't been kidnapped by Rachel or Wally and had been tortured to the point of mental breakdown. That her boyfriend wasn't really sitting across from her, tied to a chair with a gun pointed to his head, savoring his last moments of life while they forced her to pick between her love and her family.

Wally tore the bandana out of Carlos' mouth and threw it into the corner, pressing the gun harder to the Latino's temple.

"Don't do it," he whispered to her, his eyes softening as he realized his life was going to end soon. "Save yourself, save James. Don't do it."

She stared at him, her eyes past agony as she watched him sit there, waiting for his death, willing to give his life up for James…

For _her_.

"Stop! Stop! _Please_!" she pleaded, her screams becoming more frantic as Wally tightened his grip on the gun, his finger slowly pushing the trigger in. She watched as Carlos squeezed his eyes shut tightly and took a deep breath, a single tear rolling down his cheek. "I'll do it!"

The world seemed to freeze when she said those words.

She couldn't hear anything all of a sudden, just her pants of relief when Wally loosened his grip on the trigger. Carlos' eyes sprung open and widened, and she wasn't sure if he was relieved, thankful, or furious. Rachel stared at her, partly surprised that she had actually agreed.

Her plan was working.

Motioning to Wally, the curly haired girl grabbed her knife and cut Marissa free, helping her out of her seat like if they were the best of friends. Wally reflected her, only he kicked Carlos' chair down, forcing the Latino to fall onto his knees. He didn't care, as long as he wasn't tied up.

Marissa sprinted over to Carlos as soon as he made impact with the floor, and she couldn't help but shed more tears as she threw her arms around him, pressing various kisses to the cuts and bruises on his face. He hugged her tightly, wanting to envelope her completely and protect her from anything and everything.

"I'm sorry," she blubbered in his ear. "But I can't… I can't watch you die."

He didn't say anything, he couldn't. Half of him was relieved that she had agreed, but the other half knew this was all wrong, but he didn't want to reprimand her.

Not while she was in his arms at least.

* * *

"Are you sure that's all you remember?"

James sighed for about the eighth time. "That's it," he assured her, trying to smile at her. "You know I would tell you if I remembered everything else." He prayed that she hadn't caught his lie, he was usually a pretty good liar… but right now he was struggling. He wasn't sure if he should tell Kaya that her best friend, his cousin, had been the one to put him in this state. Hell, he wasn't even sure he wanted to tell _himself_ that it was her. Over the years, she had become the closest thing to a little sister he could ever get, and he loved her more than anyone in the entire Diamond family.

So why would she do such a thing?

Kaya stared at him for a minute, her eyebrows raised, and he flashed a hesitant smile, hoping she hadn't caught him lying. He knew she was suspicious, but this was the only way to keep her from worrying more than she already was.

She sat on the hard hospital bed, placing a hand on his cheek. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

He gulped before nodding feebly.

"No matter how uncomfortable it might be for you… I wanna know…"

He kept nodding.

"We agreed that there would be no secrets between us…"

"Yup."

"We agreed that we wouldn't hide anything from each other…."

"I know."

"You know I can tell when you're lying to me, James."

He tensed. "I… I don't know what you're talking about." Swallowing once more, his hazel eyes darted around the room, trying to find something interesting to focus on that wasn't her face.

She sighed, and her eyes grew wide in desperation. "What aren't you telling me?"

He decided to focus on the IV needle in his arm, finding it a little scary that it was just… there. He had always been terrified of needles…

"James!"

"What?" he met her eyes once again and his face fell. Concern was swimming around in those bright green eyes so much he thought he would drown.

"We finally got a hold of Marissa," Kendall interrupted his almost-confession, striding in with Logan behind him.

"She says they got caught up in traffic and that they're almost here." Logan informed.

James wasn't sure if he should have been relieved or completely terrified. Yes, he was going to see his cousin, probably watch her break down in front of him, blabbering about how scared she was and how relieved she was that he was awake…

A certain thought crossed his mind, and it made his stomach drop and his fear to become more pronounced.

_What if it was all just an act?_

Nobody could say that Marissa wasn't good at acting, it was a known fact that she was one of the best there would ever be, and she was always one to use that to her advantage. Feigning innocence when her mother asked who took from the candy bowl, lying about doing her homework…

James couldn't be sure if she was just putting up an act to kill all of them.

His eyes widened. Was Carlos in on it too? Had she…

He stopped himself right there. No, Marissa would never much as _think_ of harming Carlos, let alone try to kill him. James had seen how those two looked at each other, how they acted around each other. Marissa cared too much about the Latino to hurt him, just like Carlos cared way too much about Marissa to cause her harm or force her to cause harm to the ones she loved.

But he still couldn't get that last image out of his head.

"Kaya…" he whispered, reaching out to grab her hand.

She whirled around at the sound of her name, afraid he was having an overdose or something. "Yeah?"

He hesitated, not knowing if what he was doing was right. But he had to tell someone before he went insane.

Most importantly, he had to tell someone before Marissa and Carlos walked through that door and posed a threat to everyone in the room.

"Before I passed out, I… I saw her face." He murmured, avoided her gaze. "She took her hood off and I saw her face…"

Kaya stared for a minute, and Logan and Kendall made their way over to the bed to listen in, all of them crowded around him, their eyes wide and their eyebrows raised in concern.

"Did you recognize her?" Logan was the first to break the ice.

James gulped before nodding feebly. "Yeah,"

"Well?" Kaya was growing impatient, she wanted to know who did it and why.

What no one expected was his answer.

Kendall and Kaya reacted the way most people would act. If their eyes could get any wider, they would have, but James was sure they were past shock by now. Kaya's eyes flooded with tears and she stood up, shaking her head, her hand over her gaping mouth. Kendall fell back onto the floor, wrapping his arms around his knees as he only stared ahead, trying to make sense of it. _Marissa_?

Logan's lips stretched and he laughed once, realizing that it wasn't the time or place to be laughing at a joke. "Come on man, that's not funny." He nudged his wounded friend, who only stared back at him with a serious, hurt expression.

The braniac's face fell at the sudden realization. "_Marissa_?" he repeated, doubtful. He shook his head. "No! Of course not! It couldn't have… She would never…."

"People can do some crazy things…" Kendall muttered from his position on the floor.

"Are you _kidding_ me guys?" Kaya spoke up, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "Don't you notice who we're talking about here? This isn't some psycho Hollywood actress high on drugs, this is my best friend you're talking about!" she pointed an accusing finger at James. "_Your cousin_!" tears streamed down her tan cheeks and she shook her head, not being able to believe it. "She would _never_ hurt _anyone_! And don't even try pulling Carlos into it!"

"I know what I saw." James said sternly, throwing his head against his pillow and staring at the ceiling.

Logan looked up. "Marissa was the one that found you!" he jumped up, hoping that he came to a logical conclusion. "She probably ran in whenever your attackers ran off!"

"No one knew James was missing until Marissa started freaking out looking for him." Kendall reminded his friend. "She knew exactly where to find him too."

"That doesn't mean anything!" Logan knew he was over looking a couple of things, but he knew that there was no way in hell Marissa or Carlos could ever do or try something like this.

They weren't _that_ crazy.

"Think about it guys…" Kaya helped him out. "Why would Marissa even _think_ of hurting James?"

"I _did_ drop her iTouch into the pool…." James said.

"Seriously." Logan sighed, rolling his eyes.

Kendall stood up. "Think about it," he mimicked Kaya, who only sighed and looked away, crossing her arms. "Didn't you guys notice how giddy she was when we got home? How she checked the window every five minutes asking for James? And when she finally decided on going out to look for him, she just 'conveniently' knew exactly where to find him?"

The best friend still refused to believe it, and only ignored him, taking a step towards James and kneeling down beside his bed, her expression doubtful. "James…" she whispered. "You can't possibly think…"

"I don't know what to think, Kaya." He interrupted her.

She was about to respond when they all heard a familiar voice.

"Hey guys,"

Turning on his heel, Logan met Marissa with wide and surprised brown eyes. "Marissa!" he exclaimed.

She offered a small smile from where she was hiding under her black hood, which she had worn to hide the bruises and red marks on her face, not to mention her puffy eyes. They would definitely know something was up if they saw the state she was in.

Kaya shot up, turning around and letting out a cry of relief when she caught sight of her best friend standing there. Marissa's stomach dropped when she saw her, and she longed to abandon this mission right then and there.

But then a muffled grunt came from the other side of the wall and she was reminded of her motivation for this.

The two friends embraced each other, both letting out a whimper as they squeezed each other, and all she wanted to do then was whisper everything in Kaya's ear and beg for some sort of help, but she knew she wouldn't be able to do that, and that Kaya wouldn't be able to help no matter how hard she tried. The sharp edge of the dagger was cold against the skin of her back and she wished she could just run away from all of this.

James stared at his younger cousin, his eyes wide, afraid, and heartbroken. He wasn't sure if he wanted her to stay away or not.

Kendall was the edgiest of them all. He only stayed in his little corner of the hospital room, his glare demanding to be left alone. It should have surprised everyone, considering that Kendall was extremely close to her before any of this happened.

Marissa's eyes met James' and she let go of Kaya, slowly making her way over to him. James shrunk back into his pillow with every step.

Her hood fell onto her shoulders and they all gasped.

Marissa's face was bruised and battered. Her cheeks an unnatural shade of red, her lips split from being slapped so many times. Dry tears crusted her cheeks and her neck seemed to clog up as she struggled to keep the fresh ones from falling. James looked horrified.

"Mari," Logan grabbed her arm, turning her to face him. His eyes darted around her bruised face. "What happened?"

She longed to tell him everything. To just let the words pour from her mouth and yell for help, for the dagger tucked into her jeans to disappear and all of their lives to be unthreatened. But she couldn't, at least not while Carlos was in the dangerous hands of Rachel and Wally.

Marissa didn't answer him and only looked over to her cousin, who was only staring wide eyed at her. He took in her bloodshot eyes, her messy appearance, the way her body quivered every time she moved.

That was explanation enough.

His jaw clenched at his eyes burned with betrayal and shock. He suddenly realized that he _had_ been correct, no matter how much he or anyone didn't want to believe it. She had violently hurt him, she had laughed as he faded in and out of consciousness, hanging on to the thread we call life. She had watched him and ignored him as he pleaded for help…

He knew that she was dangerous, no matter how much he loved her, how much he trusted her. She had become his little sister, the sweet, trustworthy sister he never had. And she betrayed him, stabbed him twice with a knife, and now she had the guts to appear, to pretend to find him and fake her fear and concern for him.

Why?

To make him, and everyone else they loved, suffer in the worst ways possible.

He tensed when she took another step forward, and he noticed that she was still holding on to Kaya, who was the perfect target at the moment. "_Get away from her_." He growled, not noticing as she flinched at his protective tone. He had had enough pain coming from her, and the last thing he wanted was Kaya to get hurt.

Green eyes stared at her from over Kendall's knees on the floor, and he couldn't even find the strength to smile at her, there was too much tension in the room. Not to mention the shock.

Marissa gazed around at her friends, fresh tears pooling down her cheek, and she hurriedly reached up to wipe them away. Kaya sighed and sniffled, throwing her arms around her best friend once again, ignoring James' earlier warning.

Marissa knew the moment was coming. The moment where she would lose everything and so much more. She knew she did _not_ have the strength to kill James, and she knew she couldn't handle watching Carlos die before her eyes.

So she had come to the conclusion that she would do neither of the two.

"Kaya," she whimpered in her best friend's ear, holding on tighter. "Kaya… they have Carlos." She knew from the moment the words escaped her mouth she would regret them, but she didn't care at the time. There were many things she regretted at that moment in time.

Kaya pulled away to look at her in the eyes. "What are you talking about, Mari?"

Marissa held a finger to her lips and glanced over Kaya's shoulder out the door, where she could catch a glimpse of Carlos being restrained by Wally, the gun pressed against his head once more. "They're gonna kill him, Kaya. They're gonna kill him if I don't…" she trailed off as she broke into a fit of sobs, and she struggled to control her frantic crying before Rachel or Wally heard and decided to join their reunion.

Too late.

Carlos stared fearfully as he was pushed along by Wally, wincing every time the tip of the gun was wedged between his shoulder blades to keep him moving.

Everyone in the room could only stare in complete astonishment as Rachel walked in, grabbing a fistful of Marissa's hair and pulling until the girl yelped in pain, reaching up to try to keep her from pulling any harder. Logan hurried forward to help, but froze in place when another gun was held up and pointed at him.

"And they say you're a good actress," Rachel scoffed in Marissa's ear, tugging a bit harder.

Carlos pulled against Wally's grasp as another shout escaped Marissa's lips and they all heard the sickening sound of hair being pulled out of its roots, only settling down when Rachel let go.

She turned to the frozen people in the hospital room and smirked evilly. "Why, hello there people!"

No one spoke, afraid of the outcome. Logan took a step forward slowly, holding a cautious hand out to Marissa, wanting to help her. But she only shook her head and rubbed at the sore spot on her head, her eyes glued to the wounded singer on the hospital bed, his hazel eyes wide and afraid.

Kendall was the first to recover. "Wayne-Wayne?" he gasped, not sure if he should be completely afraid or laughing his heart out as he watched the "bad boy" hold a gun to Carlos' temple, his eyes black and murderous, ready to pull the trigger upon demand.

Wally looked up, a sick smirk planted on his lips, at the one who had ruined his career, standing there with a shocked half-smile on his face. He thought this was all a joke?

Everyone let out a shout as the crack of a gunshot echoed throughout the room, and Marissa's eyes jumped from her cousin to Carlos, where the Latino was hunched over in a fetal position on the floor, his head tucked into the crook of his arm, where he cried loudly, thanking God for saving his life.

Kendall looked down, where the bullet was wedged deeply into the floor space between his feet. Looking up he raised an eyebrow at Wally. "Nice shot."

"Next time I won't miss!" Wally screamed. "Who's the bad boy now Ken-dork?"

"Wally!" Rachel smacked him upside the head. "Focus! You'll get your turn in a minute!"

Wally sighed heavily, still pointing the gun at Kendall, after a thirty-second stare down, he finally lowered the gun and groaned.

Rachel smiled and turned towards Kaya, who was pressed up against the wall, still trying to recover from the sound of the false shot. "There she is, the beauty that started it all," Rachel chuckled as she circled the girl, like a lion stalks its prey, cocking her head to the side. "How does it feel, Kaya?"

"This wasn't part of the deal," Marissa spoke up, taking a step closer to Rachel, who by this point was turning the weapon in her hand on every single person that moved. "You said you would leave them all alone."

"Well, that was before you caved!" she shrieked, her eyes never leaving the frightened girl pressed against the wall. "So, either you do it, or _everyone else_ dies!"

Marissa was silent for a minute, and Carlos looked up from his spot on the floor. "Don't do it, Mari. Don't do it." Were his repeated whispers as he shook his head. She stared at him, completely at a loss to what she would do.

"Let them go." She whispered. "All of them."

Rachel and Wally stared at her for a second, before Rachel raised a hand and took Wally's gun from him, tossing them both on the floor, still within reach for them to just bend down and grab it.

"What the hell are you doing?" Wally demanded.

"She's not bluffing, she wouldn't bluff when it came to them… to _him_." A finger was pointed to where Carlos was now staring from his position on the ground. Kaya let out a breath as she ran over to the Latino, gently pulling him to where Kendall and Logan were, as far away from the murderers as you can get in a small hospital room like the one they were in.

Rachel smirked at Marissa and gestured. "Do it already!"

Finally, after what seemed like forever, she reached into the back of her jeans and pulled out the knife. A gasp arose through the room, and her cries became more profound. Rachel smirked and moved aside, letting her through as she approached the hospital bed, ignoring as the siren went off calling for a "code blue".

You know how everything suddenly seems to move in slow motion? Like in movies when the tragic death of the protagonist occurs they film it in ultra-slow motion with inspirational music to give the noble death of the main characters effect? And then the camera shows the heart wrenching expression of the witnesses as it happens, all noises seeming to fade out as they give you a visual glimpse into the person's mind?

No, nothing happened like that.

It happened pretty fast actually, even though to Marissa it seemed to take forever to decide. She knew fully that she could not kill James, the one cousin who was there with her the day her mother died, holding her as she cried. The one who used to pull back his covers in the middle of the night and let her sleep with him to avoid nightmares and restlessness. The one who had invited her to his L.A. home upon finding out that she had nothing else to do for the summer. The one cousin who didn't seem like a cousin to her anymore, but a brother. She didn't have the strength to hurt him…

But neither did she have the strength to watch any of the ones she had come to love die.

So what would it be? Kill one to save four? Or kill four to save one?

Her fingers gripped the knife in her hand painfully as she clenched her fists, more tears cascading down her face as she stared down at James, who stared back with a pleading look in his eyes. She assumed he had figured it out by now.

As she took the last step forward, raising the knife high over her head, all bodies in the room seem to freeze, and one last tear dropped off of her chin onto James' cheek as she stared down at him, finding it as the only solution. So she did the one thing she found she _could_ do.

"I'm so sorry," were her last words as she brought the knife down fast, cutting through the air at an impossible rate…

Slicing it right into her own torso.

* * *

_So uh… yeah. Believe it or not…. This story was actually written completely through text, only without much detail and more in the format of a script. I actually took it and added the detail and changed some stuff… my best friend Kassie (Half-BreedLover418) is amazing for playing off of me so well xD_

_So uh… I have a feeling I might get a couple of flames for this…. But… flame on I guess…. It's not something I usually write, which makes it that much more cool and different… _

_If I get enough reviews though… I just might make it a two shot…._

_So… review? Yeah I like that… _

_Review… It's that button right there… no… there… warmer… warmer….. There! Yeah now press it, and review!_


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